Viewers 'Curious' About The Winter Forecast

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Last winter is being called an I-90 season. North of the Mass. Pike, big snow fell. Burlington, VT, Concord, N.H. and Caribou, Maine all set records, making for one of the best ski seasons in decades.

Many of you are wondering if this season might be a repeat. Bill from East Bridgewater asks: “I’m curious. What is the winter expected to be like?”

WBZ’s Mish Michaels spoke with a winter forecast expert to get us ready for the months to come.

Dr. Judah Cohen uses hard science to develop a forecast for the upcoming winter. “I look at many different things.”

And that includes pressure patterns in the arctic, ocean water temperatures in the pacific and the amount of snow covering Siberia in the autumn.

“If the snow cover comes in above normal, the temperatures in the eastern U.S. are below normal, so we have a cold winter on average.

Siberia is like a skating rink. The ice keeps skating rinks cold. The more ice and snow in Siberia, the more cold air is available to come our way. “If the snow cover falls below normal, then we have a tendency more often than not, we will have a warm winter here in the eastern U.S.,” said Cohen.

And according to Cohen, satellite measurements show snow cover in Siberia is below average. “I’m forecasting warm and all my indicators I look at show me warm.”

Cohen does add that he does not think it’s going to be a super-warm winter, but enough to put a little dent in the energy bills for residents across New England.

Dr. Cohen points out that warmer than average winter doesn’t necessarily mean below normal snowfall, so keep those shovels ready!